


Sunflower (left in the dust)

by olympia6000



Series: ValGrace Week 2019 [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Earth 11, Earth 303, I watched spiderman into the spiderverse before writing this, M/M, Multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 19:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19447741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olympia6000/pseuds/olympia6000
Summary: Let's do this one more time alright? My name is Leo Valdez and I was bitten by a radioactive spider. I think you know the rest.





	Sunflower (left in the dust)

**Author's Note:**

> You already know what it is! It's me, ya girl, back for day 2 of Valgrace week baby!! Today's theme is AU so I decided to mix some things up. In honor of Spider-man: far from home coming out today, Spiderverse coming out on Netflix a few days ago aaand the fact that I just wanted to write Leo and the gang as Team Spider, I've created this special guy. 
> 
> I'm very excited to be posting this week and adding to the archive of everything Jason and Leo! I will warn that these fics aren't as edited as they usually are, but *pops collar* they're still fun my dude. 
> 
> Anyway, lemme stop talking so y'all can read. It's a bit long so, you're in for a treat!

_**Earth 303** _

The recording beep of a camera clicks on as a slim figure takes a seat in the chair positioned in front of it. 

“Hi,” he says, running a hand through his curly mess of hair, “my name is Leo Valdez, and this is the story of how I messed everything up but then fixed it.” 

He took a deep breath, ready to say more before shaking his head, getting up and stopping the recording. This was maybe the fiftieth time he had tried to film, and the words just weren't coming to him. He wanted to make it honest and real, but it was coming out as stupid. 

He clicked the recording button again, sitting down once more. 

“Let’s do this one more time, alright? My name is Leo Valdez. I was bitten by a radioactive spider, and for the last four years, I've been the one and only Spider-Man. I think you know the rest. I won the robotics competition, saved a bunch of people, got hit by a drone, I did this with my mom” he inserts a clip of him and Esperanza dancing to _bachata_ and making empanadas in his family home.

“I convinced my friends to all get codenames,” to the camera, he shows _hello my name is_ stickers with the names Beauty Queen and Banjee Boi, which is crossed out to say Seaweed Brain, which is also crossed out to say Barnacle Boy.

“Uh,” Leo laughed, “some we're still working on.”

“I have my own section in a Halloween store and found out I could control _fire!”_ His fingers poof on fire for a moment. “we knew there was something different with my bite, it looks super cool with my webs I promise.” 

Leo grasps his hands together, wringing his fingers as he thinks about what to say next. 

“And when I feel alone, like no one understands what I'm going through, I remember my friends who get it, who are by my side no matter what. My mom too. I never thought I'd be able to do any of this stuff, but I can. Anyone can wear the mask. After everything, I still love it. I mean, who wouldn't? So no matter how many hits I take, I always find a way to come back because the only thing standing between this city and oblivion is me. 'Cause I'm Spider-Man, and although I’m the only one, I'm not alone. Not by a long shot.”

Off-screen, he looks at a photo of him and his friends, then one with him and his mom, and the last one, recently taken, a selfie of him and a new friend. His smile turns a little sad before he looks back at the camera lens. 

“So I guess I should start from the beginning of this story, huh? It was right after finding out Percy, Piper and I had all been accepted into the same college, The New York University of Technological and Biomedical Sciences, when my Spidey senses started to tingle…” 

Cut to James P. Allison Secondary school, where Leo and the gang had just sat in the labs, watching each other open their acceptance letters. The week had been relatively quiet, which was a blessing as of late. Leo liked being able to live a regular teenage life. Not having to skip out of school to save people from a burning building or stay up late at night waiting for distress calls was _very_ therapeutic. He remembered what it was like to be normal. 

He was just about to comment on how he and Percy were going to be the best/worst roommate situation when he stopped cold, eyes going to look outside the window, scanning the skyline. 

“Leo? Leo, what is it?” Piper asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“I’m not sure, but it’s big, and it’s messy, which means it probably has my name written all over it,” Leo smirked, standing. 

“Let’s get you suited up then,” Percy smiled back, pulling the laptop out of his backpack. 

Leo was racing out of the building in seconds. He pulled his suit out of his locker, dipping into a supply closet. “This part always takes so long,” he mumbled as he slipped the mask on. 

“I told you I wanted to add new tech!” Percy yelled into his earpiece. 

“And have you mess up my design! No way!” Piper replied. Leo could hear the smack of her hand against Percy’s shoulder, making him laugh. His hero.

He could agree with Piper though. After going through suit after suit, in the beginning, Piper had finally created the perfect one. Red and orange with the latest tech. Did he need an A.I to talk to? No, probably not, but he liked knowing Rachel was there, it was like he had his own personal Siri. And get this, pockets! He’d fought long and hard for that one, and luckily, Piper figured out how to add some to spandex. 

“Um, earth to Alpha, tell me where I’m heading,” he was already swinging from building to building, looking for any signs of distress. 

“Sorry ok, three blocks away, towards west avenue, there’s some sort of...thing? I can’t explain what, but this guy is not playing around.”

“On it,” Leo replied. When he rounded the corner, he saw exactly what Percy was talking about. It was some sort of black hole, sucking up anything that got too close. 

“Going in,” he mumbled, reading his shooters. Getting closer to the vortex, he shot webs at it, hoping to stop the suction or short it out or something. Everything was flying in, and the more the hole ate, the bigger it got. It was sucking up the glass from buildings and streets signs; people were trying to run in the other direction, screaming. The situation was getting much more out of hand, then Leo would have hoped for a Wednesday afternoon. 

“Guys, nothings working! Do we have a vacuum or-or something!” he was starting to panic, even if just a little, it wasn’t every day a hole of doom appeared in New York. 

“We’re right around the corner, in 3, 2-” before Piper could finish her sentence, the hole seemed to stop, and hiccup. Leo fell flat to the ground, groaning as he rolled over, holding his side. 

“I think-I think it stopped?” He winced. 

“Spiderman!” Piper called, rushing over to him. All civilians had cleared the area yet it was always good to be safe. Percy knelt to look Leo over before getting back up to check out the black hole. 

“This is so strange. It is definitely real, molecular in structure. I’ve never seen anythin-” with a roar, the hole began its suction again. This time, three times as violent. Without so much as a gasp, Percy was sucked into the hole. 

“No!” Leo yelled. He got up, limping with Piper at his side trying to hold him back. 

“Leo! What are you doing?” She called, trying to get him to stop! Moving! 

“I can’t just let this-this thing! Take Percy. Are you in this with me, or not Beauty Queen?” he looked her dead in the eye. 

Setting her expression, she looked back at Leo and nodded. 

Together, they raced into the black hole, hearing it close behind them with a _pop!_

It was not a soft landing. 

“Ugh,” he groaned, turning over on his side. Placing his hands out beside him, he was shocked at the wet sensation of dewy grass. What? They were just on the sidewalk? 

Using whatever strength he had left, Leo pushed himself off the ground, looking around to take in his surroundings. He was still in New York it just wasn’t...something was off. Luckily, the van had been sucked up with them. Unluckily, it was flipped on its side and steaming. 

“No, no, no,” he heard Percy gushing. The teen was already at the side of the vehicle, hands behind his head with stress. “All of my research and-and our tools. Everything!” 

“Where are we?” Piper asked the question on everyone’s tongue. 

From the looks of it, they were in a park. The tall buildings of the city still surrounded them with the noisy honking of traffic and people. But again...something about it was different. It was as if everything was skewed just a little bit. 

Before anyone could think of an answer that made any sense, a beeping noise started. Percy perked up immediately, digging through the rubbage of the van and finding his computer case. 

“ _Gracias a Dios,_ ” He mumbled, kissing it before taking the computer out. Doing some quick typing, Percy hacked into the nearest wifi signal, giving him access to files that might have the answer. 

“Ah, ha!” He pointed at the screen before his face dropped, letting his finger thud against the ground. 

“What? What is it? Time travel? We’ve done that before. We can do it again...right?” Leo hoped, rushing to stand over Percy’s shoulder. 

“That’s not a time travel expression, this is something much worse,” Piper added, joining them. 

On Percy’s screen was a layout of a black hole, similar to the one they had all just traveled too. It had a lot of equations and theories that Leo didn’t understand, but a couple of words stuck out to him. 

“Interdimensional travel? Percy, explain,” Leo crossed his arms. This could not be happening, there’s no way-

“So it’s just a theory, a hypothesis made up by ufologist who believe that “visitations” we experience on Earth are from other realities or dimensions that coexist separately alongside our own. It’s complete and utter nonsense but,” he begins to type into the computer, adding things up, trying to make any sort of sense of what could be happening. 

Percy gulps. “They’re real.” There’s a map of several different universes spread out in front of him — Earth 616, Earth 1610, Earth 65 and what seems to be millions more. 

“So what does this mean, how do we get home?” Leo asked. Percy always had all the answers. He wasn’t worried. 

“Weare here,” he points to a dot, “Earth 11. Home, is here,” he points to another dot labeled Earth 303. “In order to get him, we need to find whatever opened that wormhole. If not, we’re stuck here.” 

“Ok, so we find this guy, beat him up, we go home. Amazing plan,” Leo says, slipping his mask back on. 

“Wait, it’s not going to be that easy,” Piper stopped him, grabbing his arm. “Think about it, You’re Spiderman on our Earth, we’re your team, you have your villains and whatever. What about here? They have to have a Spiderman and baddies of their own. We can’t risk you parading around like a hero.” 

“It’s not like time travel, it won’t disrupt the timeline. I’ll be fine.” 

“No Leo, Piper’s right. We can’t let anyone know you’re in town. It might not be safe. We don’t know the dangers here.” 

Leo groaned. He hated it when his friends were right. 

“Ok, ok fine then. So what do we do?” 

Piper pulled a change of clothes from her bag. 

“You put this on, and we’ll figure out a game plan. Trust us,” she smiled. 

He took the clothes, although a bit reluctant. He didn’t like the sound of this plan but when his friends were right they were right. How had Piper known he needed a change of clothes anyway? It’d been a while since he’d forgotten his own and had to buy the cheap street merchandise of New York. She was just like his mom, which, in hindsight, was a pretty awesome thing to be. 

He came around from the side of the van where he had been changing, “So, what you go-” only to find them gone. 

“Percy? Piper!” great. He knew this would go bad. “Guys!” Frantic, he scooped up Piper’s backpack, stashing Percy’s laptop. There were no imprints in the grass, no sign of anyone running off with two teens. Nothing. How had someone pulled the wool over his eyes? And so well might he add. Well, it wasn’t going to happen to hi-

“He-ump!” He yelled, muffled by the tie going around his mouth. Great! Just fantastic! Right after he had gotten the suit off! Had someone been waiting for him? Did they see him in the suit? He didn’t have time to think on it as he was more worried about the feeling of his feet lifting off the ground. He wasn’t afraid of heights, that much had been taken care of the first time he jumped off the empire state building. What he was afraid of, was being dropped. Leo had no other choice but to stay completely still while he was transported to where-ever he was being taken. 

Unceremoniously, he was dropped on a rooftop. Good god, his ribs were going to be so bruised! He looked around, trying to find Percy and Piper. His Spidey senses were going berserk the longer he sat there. 

Leo felt the person walk up behind them before they cut the tie off from around his mouth. 

“What did you do with my friends!” He yelled, thinking it was better he didn’t see his kidnappers face or he’d be trying to karate chop their heads off. 

The kidnapper scoffed. “Did you know your friends are evil?” It was a male voice, deep, but not too deep. It sounded like he had just recently gone through puberty. Amazing, he was dealing with some teenage henchman. 

“What? You’ve got it wrong dude. How do I know you’re not the bad guy here?” Leo spat. He hadn’t noticed his hands were tied together until he tried to move them. The material seemed...annoyingly familiar. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not,” the guy said, moving around to Leo’s side. Any second, and they would be face to face. “Haven’t you ever heard of Spide-” 

Leo’s eyes got wide. He could barely contain the wince that left him as he looked into a pair of bright blue eyes. It was like sound waves that hit only his ears. When the sensation was over, he looked up to see the guy with the blue eyes had the same experience. 

“Y-you’re like me.” 

Leo couldn’t explain it, just like he couldn’t explain being bitten by a radioactive spider, just like he couldn’t explain being able to control fire, but he knew, without a doubt, that the blond standing across from him was Team Spider. 

“Yeah I...I am,” Leo stuttered sitting up straight. Before this moment, he hadn’t really believed his friends. He thought the possibility of another Spiderman, even in a separate dimension, was slim to none, yet there he was. And he was hot too. Not fair. 

The blond offered a hand. Against his better initial judgement, Leo took it. 

“I-I’m Jason. Jason Grace,” he said, taking off his mask. His suit was a cool blue and yellow, stylish. Leo liked it. 

“I’m Leo Valdez, I guess.” 

“How are you...I didn’t think there was anyone else out there like me. Where are you from? I’ve never seen you around New York before. I-” 

“Jace, too many questions,” a voice, female this time, spoke from behind them. 

A girl, teenaged, just like the rest of them, (why was it always teenagers?) stepped out from the shadows. She had long curly blonde hair with large gray eyes. Leo knew exactly who she was. He scrambled back, running into the edge of the building. 

“Lady Octopus! You’re in league with the Lady Oc! What is this?” He yelled. Logistically, if he jumped from the side of the building now, he might be able to grab his suit out of the ba-

“Woah, woah! Chill!” Jason said, putting his hands up. 

“Chill! You want me to chill and one of my enemies is right there? How do I know this isn’t just a trap? Are _you_ the one who brought us here? Not cool man,” he huffed, standing on the ledge. Her silver colored grabby hands stretched out behind her. Leo wasn’t expecting her to take her goggles off. 

“My name is Annabeth Chase and I’m not this, Lady Octopus. I go by the codename Wise Girl and I’m Team Spider. I promise,” she held her hands up in surrender, dropping the mask to the ground. 

“Where are my friends.” It was a command, he was tired of all this topsy turvy. 

“Hydro-Man and Moonstone are on the other side of the roof. We didn’t know they were your friends. We thought-we thought they were planning something. So we’re all in the same boat. Come down from there and lets talk,” Jason explained. 

“Give me my friends first, then I’ll think about it.” 

In the blink of an eye, Annabeth had Piper and Percy beside her, untied and without a scratch. 

Leo sighed, “guys.” He ran to them, engulfing them in a hug. 

“Now we can ta-” before Jason could finish, Leo shared a look with his friends and made a run for it, jumping from the roof. He had done his calculations correctly and was able to get his web slingers from the bag. 

“Wait!” He heard Jason yell. 

He didn’t have time to wait, he needed to be home for dinner. 

**_Earth 11_ **

It was weird, this alternate Earth. Leo knew where everything was but it was like a complete opposite. They walked through their neighbourhood, passing each others house, but knowing the house was not their home. Leo was homesick, and he went to a five-day boarding school. He wanted to see his mom, maybe visit Percy’s little sister. 

“Hey, chin up. We’re getting home, we’re going to figure this out,” Percy read his thoughts, bumping into his arm. 

“Or he’s just mad because the other Spiderman was cute and he didn’t get his number,” Piper laughed. 

“Oh come on,” Leo chuckled, “What? That is so not what I was thinking. I know we’ll get home it just sucks that we don’t know how.” 

“I agree,” Piper sighed. 

“I just hope we don’t run into our other selves here. From the sounds of it, we are not the good guys.” 

“I guess but...what about me? I have to exist here somewhere...don’t I?” Leo asked, looking to his friends. 

“Yeah, although it might be for the best if we don’t run into you either. Who knows what you could do.” Leo gave Piper an almost offended look. “Hey hey, sorry. You do control _fire_ on our Earth so who’s to say you’re not like, a human flamethrower or something here.” she shrugged. 

Oh, he hadn’t thought about that. It didn’t seem like Jason or Annabeth knew who he was so, maybe he wasn’t super at all. He didn’t know which reality was more disappointing. 

“Well whatever it is, we need to stay focused. We have to find a way out of here. I don’t like a reality where my best friends are Spider-man's worst enemies.” 

“We’ll figure it out, I know it. I just have to figure out what’s going on with the time/space continuum. Ya know, like always. We’ll need to find someplace with good wifi like a- aha!” Percy blurted, pulling them across the street to a Starbucks. 

“Huh, no matter what dimension. They’re all the same,” Piper laughed, taking in the green mermaid painted on the brick. 

Inside, they sat next to the window, near the back. Piper bought a drink to ensure that no one would bother them. Just like on their Earth, it was expensive as ever. 

“Ok so, my guess is that whatever opened that hole, must have known our location. They were drawing us in,” Percy typed on his computer, noting down any possible hypothesis. 

“Or it was an accident. Maybe whoever was doing it meant to target someone who was here and instead, ended up getting us,” Piper sipped. 

“Right, right, maybe that’s why the hole appeared out of nowhere, if they really wanted us, they would have targeted the school or your home,” Percy gestured to Leo. 

“Maybe…” Percy stopped typing, yanking the backpack off Leo’s back. “Your suit sticks so maybe some residue was left on your fingers or-or-”

“Or we’re about to be attacked by a man in a black mask.”

Leo was already gone and changing by the time Piper finished her sentence. He was just in time to scoop up his friends before the window was broken through, glass shattering all over the place. 

“Everybody out!” Leo yelled in a fake voice. Back home, he usually did a real manly Brooklyn accent, here it came out more British? It was really bad. 

He knew Piper thought he shouldn’t don the mask in this universe, but he couldn’t just let these people get hurt, at least until the other guy showed up. 

The man in the black mask wasn’t any villain Leo had seen before. He was tall and he could only see the beginnings of his blond hair under his hood. Was everyone in this universe blond? Was that the catch? Is that what made this place different? Looking around, maybe it was. 

Bad idea, as soon as he took his eyes off the target, he was smacked across the street. What? He hadn’t even seen him coming. 

“Where are you! Show yourself!” He yelled, circling around himself. 

“I’m everywhere and nowhere at once,” the voice was like a vibration around him. He had no idea where the man in black had gone and it wasn’t helping as he continued to get smacked around by an invisible force. 

“Alright Leo,” Percy switched on in his ear, “ I don’t know what this guy is, but he’s moving at the speed of light, vibrating his body so fast he physically is apart of the atmosphere. I think this is our guy.” 

“How do I catch something that isn’t here!” 

“I-I don’t know yet, hold on.”

“Percy! I don’t have time to hold on! I’m-” slapped against the building across the street. Yep, that was definitely a couple broken ribs. 

Suddenly, that vibration came back from before, when he had been talking to Jason. His Spidey senses were going berserk as he watched the webster sling across the building. Jason slammed down in front of him, striking the same pose Leo did. Somehow, it looked cooler as he raised his head to face his foe. 

“Showoff,” Leo mumbled. 

“No time for small talk, GO!” Didn’t have to tell him twice, he was scooping up his friends, and following Jason, hopping from rooftop to rooftop until they crashed on an old warehouse building. 

“Inside!” Jason yelled, opening a door Leo hadn’t seen was there. He jumped inside, not prepared for the slide that speeds him to the floor. 

“Sweet,” Percy whispered as he crashed into the back of Leo, Piper crashing into the back of him. 

It was very sweet — much more of a cooler control room than the van. The place was decorated blue and yellow, like Jason suit, with a silver control panel. Inside were different versions of the suit, displayed for easy access. Leo had that too, just, in a drawer, in Percy’s house. 

“What was that thing?” Piper asked, getting right to the point. 

“We don’t know yet,” Annabeth breathed, typing away at her computer. “He came into town at the beginning of the week and we haven’t been able to figure out what he wants, much less how to catch him. He’s been relatively subdued, except for when Jason is suited up. He always finds a way back to him, like he can sense him or something.” 

“We have a theory,” Percy spoke up, going to stand beside her, opening his computer. “We detected that your mask man is the reason we’re here. He wants Spiderman, gone. He moves quickly, becoming apart of the atmosphere around us. I think that if he moves fast enough he’ll be able to-” 

“Open wormholes to other dimensions,” Annabeth finished for him. 

“Yeah,” Percy blushed. “I’m uh, Percy, by the way.”

“Annabeth,” she smiled. 

“And I’m Piper. Great, we all know each other. What we need to be doing is figuring out how to get this baddie so we can go home. He wants to hurt Leo and Jason, destroying them would send New York into chaos. We need to catch him before it’s too late.”

Moving closer into the computers, the trio began to discuss possible solutions. 

Leo let out a sigh, sitting on a bright yellow couch, sinking into the cushions. 

“Tired? We’re just getting started,” Jason laughed, sitting down across from him. 

“Man, this job always has me tired, no matter what. How long since your bite? Assuming you were bitten.”

“Um, two years? Maybe? I only started wearing a mask a couple of months ago though,” Jason shrugged. 

“How come?”

“My mom died.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Why was it always some sob story? What was it about things that just couldn’t go right for supers, whether a villain or a hero? What about tragedy made you better? Leo had gone through all the motions the night Calypso had died. She was living with them while her family was getting their lives together in Colombia. Leo had told her it wasn’t safe to follow him into the building, his Spider senses prevented all the warnings but she hadn’t listened. She just had to save the day. Leo blamed himself. He always would. 

“I...understand,” Leo smiled. Jason smiled back at him and Leo took the time to admire it. He looked nice when he smiled, there was a crinkle beside his eyes and a white scar that stretched out above his lip. It was kinda adorable. 

“You have a nice face,” Jason blurted. 

“W-what?” Leo laughed, not sure how to react. He hadn’t been expecting that.

Before he could make an equal fool of himself, Piper called them over. 

“That was fast,” Leo snorted. 

“I know,” she smirked. 

“Our brains are fire together!” Percy exclaimed. 

“Speaking of fire. You didn’t tell us you could control it,” Annabeth crossed her arms.

“Eh,” he shrugged, “it didn’t come up.”

“It’s our answer to all of this,” she typed something into the computer and started playing a video on the projector. “So we figured out how to stop our guy. He dissolves into the atmosphere, right? Well, what happens when he enters a confined place? Molecularly, we should be able to trap him inside of an airtight container. In able to do that, we’ll need heat and a lot of it.” 

Leo nodded. “So this container, is it built?” Weirdly, he was hoping for a little more time. As much as he wanted to go home, he wanted to stay, learn more about this world, about its people. 

“Actually, it is,” Annabeth replied, picking up a small mason jar. 

“That?” Piper asked. 

“Trust us, it expands,” Jason laughed. “I said the same thing.” 

“Well alright then, all we have to do, is track him-” Leo and Jason shared a look, jumping out of the window, “down.” Piper shook her head. 

“Come on Alpha, we’re waiting on you,” Leo teases. 

“Yeah, yeah.” 

-

They went back to the spot where Leo and his team had dropped in. A place called “Park Central” a coincidence? He thought not. 

“Alright, our Black Hood should be arriving any second, you guys keep a lookout,” Percy spoke into Leo’s earpiece. 

“Roger that,” he scanned the area, trying not to be snuck up on like before. 

“So...when you get back home, what are you gonna do?” Jason asked, back to back with Leo. 

“My friends and I just got accepted to the same school so I have a bunch of stuff to do with admissions, maybe a scholarship to accept, the works,” Leo shrugged. It was weird having small talk on a stakeout mission. He didn’t mind. 

“You?”

“I think I’ll try to catch up on Green's Anatomy, Annabeth’s been really into it.”

“...You mean Grey’s ana- nevermind,” Leo chuckled, letting it go. Alternate Universe man.

“So...uh, you and Annabeth, is that a thing or…”

“What? No,” Jason laughed, “Anna’s my cousin. I’ve known her for forever. Besides, I’m pretty sure she’s a little hooked on Percy right now.”

“No way, my friend Percy? They just met!” 

“Oh no no, sorry I forgot that could be confusing. This dimensions Percy. He goes to school with us, he’s in all of Anna’s lab classes and just so happens to be one of my enemies.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, it really sucks to be Team Spider sometime,” Jason snorted. 

“I feel that, deep to my core.”

Silence fell between them as night fell. It felt like they had been waiting on this guy forever, what was taking so long? 

“What about you?” Jason asked. “Anyone special?”

Leo thought about the answer for a while before opening his mouth. “There had been someone...once. They passed, years ago but, it kinda weighed heavy on me. Now, there’s no one, no.” 

“In good time then. There’s someone for everyone,” Jason patted his shoulder and Leo is not kidding, electricity raised from his fingers. 

“Sorry!” Jason quickly moved them away. “I’m so sorry, that has been happening so much lately. I don’t know why bu-”

“Your spider bite, it must have been special. Don’t be sorry for what you were given, it’s a gift.” 

“You-you really think so?” 

Leo let his palm ignite. “I know so.”

“Cool,” Jason smiled stupidly underneath his mask, Leo didn’t need to see it to know it was there. 

“Do you think-” before he could finish, a gust of wind pushed past them. 

“Thank you both for gathering here. This will make getting rid of you much easier!” The man’s voice spanned out around them, as it had earlier. 

Leo jumped into action, knowing Jason was doing the same beside him. 

“That’s what you think, Leo now!” Piper yelled into the earpiece. 

Across the way, he could see Jason had opened the jar, letting it enlarge and expand in the space around them. It was strange, but with his vision, he could see what looked like confetti being sucked into the jar. Without haste, Leo jumped on the rim, letting himself slide down the mouth of the jar, standing inside of it. Just as he was about to flame on, he was knocked against the walls, the air knocked out of him. 

In front of him, the man in the black hood was smirking. Had this been a part of his plan all along? Leo fought back as best as he could, but he couldn’t land a hit, no matter how hard he tried. 

“Jason!” he yelled through the top of the jar. “Listen to me! I need you to seal this thing!” 

“What! No! He’ll kill you!” Jason yelled back, putting a hand on the side where Leo was pressed. 

“You know what you need to do,” Leo mouthed back as he took another hit. He saw the look on Jason’s face change from fear to determination. With a nod, he swung up and closed the lid of the jar. 

God Leo hoped this worked. 

He braced himself for impact as he felt his arm hair stand on end. Immediately, all of the oxygen was sucked outside of the jar, causing the Black Hood to slow his hit time. It was like everything was moving in slow motion for him as he tried to break Leo down. 

“Now!” he heard himself scream. In seconds, a huge flash of lightning struck on the top of the jar, fizzing all of the air inside, effectively deflating the Black Hood. 

Leo didn’t have much time to celebrate as he was being pulled out of the jar by webs. 

“We did it!” Jason clapped, hugging Leo as they reached the ground. “Now you can go home.” There was a sad tinge to his words, one that Leo felt too. It was like he was leaving something he had just found. Although, at the same time, a part of him knew he’d be finding it again. 

A car screeched up beside them, their friends jumping out and joining them for a group hug. 

“Uh guys…” Percy interrupted. “What’s that?” he pointed to a black hole opening beside them. 

“Our way home,” Piper smiled. 

Everyone exchanged goodbyes. For as long as they had known each other, they were quite heartfelt. Percy wished Annabeth luck on her crush and Piper affectionately left her mark in their Team Spider hideout, though, Jason and Annabeth would see that later. 

Stepping into the black hole, everything was almost back to normal, except for Leo. 

“I um, this is so weird, but I, I’m not ready to leave,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“I don’t exactly want you to go either, I admit,” the sentence had come out much dorkier than expected but Leo didn’t mind. Weren’t they all nerds here?

“I um, I know you might not understand this, but you-you remind me of someone that I used to know,” Jason smiled sadly. 

“No, I do get it. I also, for some reason, can tell you, that they’re coming back. They miss you too,” Leo smiled back, taking Jason’s hand. The electricity happened again, it must have been some type of nervous tick. 

“You’ll find yours. I can feel it,” Jason squeezed his hand. Somehow, Leo believed him. 

“Hey, I-” he was not expecting Jason to kiss him though, even if it was just a peck. 

“It will be.” Leo could only smile as Jason pushed him through the black hole, knowing it was the last time that they would ever meet like this. And that was okay. Leo had gained the most valuable experience from this; that he wasn’t the only one. Spiderman would always be around, he wasn’t the only one, not by a long shot. 

  
  
  


**_ Earth 303 _ **

“Uh, yeah so, that’s about it,” Leo said, adjusting the camera lens. “A few months have passed since our interdimensional adventure. Everything's back to normal again too. Percy and I have started school, we’re in the same dorm, Room 718 represent! Get this, Percy is in a class with this dimensions Annabeth and for being an evil octopus scientist, she’s pretty cool. They do dumb couple stuff like, go to football games,” he made a fake throwing up face. 

“Piper’s been good too. She’s really focused on her studies and made me a new suit, I’ll have to show it in a different video, it’s so cool, it deserves one.”

“And me? Well, I’m making it. This whole Spiderman business isn’t getting any easier but knowing there are others out there who are like me, my Spider Fam,” Leo chuckles, “makes it all worthwhile.” 

He looks at the photo on his desk, the one Rachel, his suits A.I had taken of them when they were smiling at each other. How she was able to get Leo in it, he would never be sure. For a robotic voice, she was an artist. 

There was a knock on his door. Probably his neighbor again, telling him to stop talking to himself. Or maybe it was Annabeth looking for Percy? Either way, he got up to answer it. 

“Hey, sorry Nico, I know I- you’re not Nico,” Leo stopped. His hand gripped harder on the door frame, shocked at what he was looking at. 

Jason was there, in the flesh except, he knew it wasn’t Jason. At least not Spiderman Jason, he wasn't wincing in pain like in the past when the two had met. This Jason had the same blond hair, although longer and more disheveled with the same bright blue eyes except covered with a pair of square lensed glasses. A true nerd. 

“Uh no,” he laughed, “not Nico. But I am Jason Grace, nice to meet you,” he offered Leo a hand to shake. 

“Yeah, Jason, hi,” he was out breath? Why was he out of breath? “I-I’m Leo. Leo Valdez.”

“Well then, Leo, I’m your other, next door neighbor and I’m getting here a little late this semester so I missed move in. I was wondering if you could give me a hand lugging this stuff up the stairs?” 

“Yeah! I mean yes, of course, let me just-let me just put on some shoes and I’ll be right there,” why was he this excited? He barely even knew this Jason. Technically, he barely knew the other one either. This was...a fresh start? Well, looks like he’d already ruined that. 

As quickly as he could walk, Leo rushed into his room, finding his shoes under his bed. He wanted to get back out as soon as possible but stopping once more at his desk, Leo looked at his picture again. 

“You were right,” he chuckled, placing a hand on the wood frame. “ _Gracias a Dios_ you were right!” 

Sitting back in front of the camera, he winked into the lens. “That’s all folks.”

He closed the door with a flick of his wrist, webs dissolving as they touched the metal. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I had a blast writing this and I'll see y'all tomorrow.


End file.
